Textile goods bleaching means and method

ABSTRACT

An improved arrangement and method for bleaching textile goods is provided wherein a J-box is employed for storing the goods transiently for the bleach while allowing the travel of the stored goods to shut down whenever desired while leaving the goods in place without damage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cotton and cotton blend knit goods are commonly bleached with analkaline hydrogen peroxide solution in a range which first saturates thegoods with bleaching liquor, then heating the saturated goods bysteaming and transiently storing the goods in a J-box while retainingthe heat applied by steaming for a sufficient bleaching period. PriorU.S. Pats. No. 2,334,066 and No. 2,858,184 contain representativedisclosures of such processing.

More recently systems have been developed in which the bleaching liquorwas applied in the heel of the J-box while steaming in the straight legof J-box below the piling level therein. Both of these systems, however,have involved troublesome disadvantages. Where the goods are saturatedfirst and then steamed it has not been possible to stop the processwithout emptying the J-box because tendering of the goods results ifthis is not done, while when the bleaching liquor is applied at the heelof the J-box a constant poundage of throughput must be maintained inorder to keep the J-box piling high enough in the straight leg of theJ-box for steaming and steaming of the J-box pile has tended to yieldnon-uniform results.

The present invention eliminates these disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention the goods are first saturated withbleaching liquor and then fed to the J-box for steaming prior to pilingtherein, while additional heated bleaching liquor is maintained flowingthrough the heel of the J-box during processing, but means is providedwhenever the feed of goods is to be interrupted to stop the steaming andredirecting the heel flow of bleaching liquor for unheated flowthroughout the J-box pile of goods so that the bleaching action isdiscontinued, as described further below in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side elevation of a bleaching range embodying thepresent invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective illustration of the J-box arrangement.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring just to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the illustrated bleachingrange is seen a cradle 10 from which a roll of greige goods to bebleached is fed to a dry scray 12 through a poteye 14 to rope the goodsand through a pair of draw rolls 16 for accumulation ahead of asaturator 18. The roped goods enters the saturator through anotherpoteye 20 and over driven reel 22 to an entering J-chute 24. Adjacentthe top of the J-cute 24 a spray ring at 26 is fed from a recirculatingsystem 28 running from the bottom of a bleaching liquor tub 30 toprovide thorough penetration of the goods being treated as they enterthe J-chute 24. The goods emerge from the J-chute 24 under an immersionroll 32 from which it is directed upwardly through a pair of squeezerolls 34 and over an unloading doffer 36 to a wet scray 38 whichaccumulates the saturated goods for feed through the J-box 40.

The J-box includes a downwardly extending entry leg 42 having a poteye42' at its bottom and at the top of which a three-roll cluster isarranged for pulling the goods upwardly and transferring them into theadjacent straight leg 44 of the J-box proper in which the goods arepiled for progress ultimately through the curved bottom heel portion 46from which the goods are led to a SLACK LOOP WASHER 48 and exits over adoffing roll 50 to a suitable truck or other receptacle to be conveyedfor further processing.

The arrangement of the J-box 40 is indicated best in FIG. 2 of thedrawings in which an inlet pipe is shown at 52 adjacent the top of thestraight J-box leg for introducing steam above the piling point of thegoods therein for heating the goods in the range of 140° to 212° F.during travel upwardly in the entry leg 42 and prior to piling in thestraight leg storage portion. The steam enters the J-box 40 at the inlet52 and flows counter-currently to the goods through the entry leg 42 andexits at a poteye at the bottom of this entry leg 42 through which theentering goods are trained.

The heated goods then progress downwardly in piled form through a majorportion of the straight J-box leg 44 to the curved bottom heel portionat which further bleaching liquor is added through an inlet at 54 andexits through an outlet at 56 just before the goods are lifted out ofthe J-box 40 through a discharge poteye 60 for transfer to a SLACK LOOPWASHER 48. The further bleaching liquor is recirculated from a tank at46' which incorporates a steam panel for indirect heating for the heelrecirculation.

In operation, the goods pass through the range so as to leave with a100% pick-up of bleaching liquor at the saturator squeeze rolls 34 andare pulled into the entry leg 42 of J-box 40 for uniform steaming thatbrings the goods up to bleaching temperature before being piled in thestraight J-box leg 44 and this temperature is maintained by therecirculation provided in the J-box heel portion 46. Whenever theoperation must be interrupted, however, as at the end of a shift theheel recirculation is redirected to the steaming point 52 and the liquorheat is shut off as well as the steaming so that the bleaching liquor iscirculated throughout the J-box piled storage but at a temperature belowthat at which bleaching takes place so that tendering of the goodsstanding in the J-box 40 is avoided. As the J-box 40 is sized to contain3,000 pounds or more of goods a good deal of time is saved in being ablesimply to shut it down whenever necessary without having to remove thegoods first. With the arrangement of the present invention it is onlynecessary to begin preliminary steaming again and heated heelrecirculation in order to start up the range again.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes ofillustration only and is not intended to be limited by this descriptionor otherwise to exclude any variation or equivalent arrangement thatwould be apparent from, or reasonably suggested by, the foregoingdisclosure to the skill of the art.

We claim:
 1. In a bleaching range for textile goods in which the goodsare first saturated with a bleaching liquor and then fed to a J-box forpreliminary steaming and subsequent further treatment with the bleachingliquor in the heel of the J-box, the improvement which comprises meansfor steaming the saturated goods within the J-box prior to piling of thegoods therein, means for maintaining a flow of heated bleaching liquorthrough the goods in the heel of the J-box, and means for stopping thesteaming and redirecting the flow of bleaching liquor to the steamingpoint for unheated flow throughout the J-box pile of goods whenever thefeed of goods through the J-box is interrupted.
 2. The method ofbleaching textile goods in which the goods are first saturated with ableaching liquor and then fed to a J-box for preliminary steaming andsubsequent further treatment with bleaching liquor in the heel of theJ-box, which comprises steaming the saturated goods within the J-boxprior to piling of the goods therein, maintaining a flow of heatedbleaching liquor through the goods in the heel of the J-box, andstopping the steaming and redirecting the flow of bleaching liquor tothe steaming point for unheated flow throughout the J-box pile of goodswhenever the feed of goods through the J-box is interrupted.